I'm a Bad Bad Blogger

I haven't forgotten you all - my loyal readers (now there are about 5 of you - because my parents are reading - so I have to behave myself). Things have been really busy - some of it good (like work) and some of it, well, stressful. Let's just say there are a lot of people in the world who don't deal well with reality and I seem to have to be dealing with them all lately. It makes me tired. Very tired. I'll catch up soon. There's some new knitting and a few new adventures to add, but with all the weddings we've had to go to (3!) this month, I've been pretty busy helping to celebrate and buy wedding presents. Next time, I promise, I'll post the SEALCAM!

Of Hats and Gay Dogs

Last Sunday as I gave my friend Gina her new scarf, I realized that part of the problem with my documentation of my knitting projects is that I get so excited to give them to the recipient that I forget to photograph them and, well, my descriptions are hardly exciting. I don't care what kind of yarn whore you are, it's hard to get all worked up over a paragraph - touching, seeing and sniffing are a whole different ball game though. I didn't want to just set everything on a table and shoot it either (also boring). Therefore, I have decided to include a few of my action knitwear shots. Admit it now, that's got you on the edge of your seats. No? Oh well. All that drama isn't what it's cracked up to be - I work with drama - you can trust me on this one.
Up there on the left is my first attempt at fairisle knitting on location at Ano Nuevo. Please note that this (Tahki cotton) hat maintained good humor throughout the shoot which included wind and rain that day. Sweet Babboo requested this as a present prior to our first Christmas - the fact that he wears it on a regular basis means that he gets continuing knitterly love. If you have visited this site before, you may have noted that he does not have fleece of his own to keep his head warm, surrogate fleece is an essential part of his uniform. To the right is a simple green hat, seen here traveling throughout Europe, warming ears on a cold night in London. Made of an extremely soft Merino, it has insulated the fleeceless head against the elements many times. However, I do believe the fairisle is the favored of the two.

Next you will observe just one of the ways that I torture my dog. There is a tad less action in this image because almost all photos of the dog involve action, which unfortunately appears as a large brown streak. I actually got the idea to do this because I had taken her on a job with me and when I looked back at the truck where she was waiting, I saw that she was shivering. Now, I had always owned big warm dogs - labs that would break ice to swim - that sort of thing. So, to see my little girl shivering in a California winter, well, I just never expected it. I decided that I would have to knit her a sweater - but a mystery-meat-with-some-pit-thrown-in dog can not have a goofy little cutesy sweater - I had to show that she was tough, but girly. I was inspired by the mud flap girl tank in one of the Stitch N' Bitch books and I set out to make a flattering garment for my not so tiny dog. Not an easy task - most people making sweaters for their dogs apparently have pets the size of tissue boxes. I found this pattern and used it as a guide, but mostly I just kept trying it on and went by the "winging it" method. I think it turned out fairly well for a first time intarsia pattern - and Livi likes to wear it too - despite the fact that some people "don't get it". I'm not sure what there is to get - it's a sweater - but then again, I didn't really know what to say when someone asked me if she was gay (she was wearing the sweater) either. Just another reason why I prefer to hang out with the dog on the weekend instead of people. And of course, if Livi ever does come out to me, I'll still love her just the same.

...It's My Birthday Too!

I have so many reasons to celebrate - taxes: done! - in the mail they go today, banana bread: made! old bananas salvaged and it is SOOOO good with the coffee that John made for me this morning and brought up to me (that's reason number three - one of my best friends lives downstairs) and oh yeah, I have a wonderful boyfriend and fambly who called me for my birthday. Check out my present! I got the gloves when I was in London because they were so British and so cool and Sweet Babboo got me the purse and wallet when I wasn't looking (and even a matching blouse while we were there - I will be scary with all my Paul Smith Swirls). I wonder if I can get pants and the umbrella, everyone will think they are about to have an Austin Powers/60's flashback whenever I walk by. Doooodle ooodle dooodle oodle - you get the idea.

So, one of my favorite things on this purse are the buttons - check 'em out - a butterfly and a bunny. I am the "bunny girl" - just ask my mom. I had a stuffed bunny that I dragged everywhere when I was little and I loved ANYTHING that had bunnies on it (I still have the bunny in the cedar chest at my mom's but he looks more like roadkill now). Every year my mom would make me a bunny birthday cake - it was two circles - one made the face and the other she would cut ovals from opposite sides of the cake to make ears and a bow tie shape would be left in the middle, then she'd give him pink ears and whiskers and all that good stuff. Williams-Sonoma has a much more sophisticated bunny cake pan on it's cover this spring and I am really tempted to get it. It comes in handy that my big day is near Easter so that there are bunnies a-plenty for me. And for the record, I love birthdays, it's like having your own personal holiday and you don't have to be dead for people to celebrate, no mourning going on in this house, in fact I like to stretch it out as long as possible. The big party is on the 15th because we have to go to a wedding this Saturday - so 7pm, Oakland Ice Rink - we're skating and Sweet Babboo is picking up Zachary's pizza and an ice cream cake - you can have some if you put on skates. Whoohoo, it's good to be twelve!

OK, obviously, I am not on the mountain today. I woke up too late. SB has promised to wax my board tonight (that sounds way more exciting than it really is) and I am going to set the alarm for butt early because, hello! my taxes are done and I made it through another year - it's time to celebrate.

Um, miss, you have some um, food, on your, um......
Mommy's little helper. Livi is our prewash setting for dishes, apparently she likes banana bread batter.

Sunny Spots, Playtime, and a Scarf

There's not much to show on the sock progress - not that the sock is all that exciting anyway - and I still haven't cast on for the lace scarf. Perhaps I am putting it off, but no! I have a valid excuse. This is a scarf for my friend Gina or rather my boyfriend's buddy's wife, but I like her too - her birthday is coming up and I want to have it finished. I have a measly two stripes per day requirement to finish it. I like to set attainable goals you know... She requested orange and blue in her knitted gift (all the gang has received a hat or scarf or shrug) and I wasn't finding the colors I liked in yarns I could afford (the goal is to keep all these little goodies on the reasonably priced side). Then one day, I am in Michaels' for buttons or something and what do I see? It's super cheapie stuff, but I love the way it looks (it's much brighter in real life) and it doesn't sqeak too much, so we'll live with it. I can use the leftover to make a baby sweater for the impending niece/nephew (babies can barf all over acrylic and it washes right out - so if it's not some serious heirloom, acrylic it is).

I like to call this "Patch of Dog in Sun". Why is it that she will lay in the hot spot and pant and never make a move to go, say 10 inches to the right where she will be warm but comfortable? Crazy dog. But do you see what Livi sees now? I barely recognized it myself - sunshine! Time to go play so I can make it to knit night on time (hope my cheap yarn doesn't get me laughed out of the place). Got to get to bed early too - I think I am going to take myself snowboarding for my birthday (and get back in time for my dinner date!). OK, we're outta here - time for some fetch and chase.